Long-haul youth travellers enticed to enjoy NZ’s ‘Epic Experiences’

18 Mar 2013

Youth travellers from the long-haul markets of the US, Canada, UK and Continental Europe are being enticed to travel to New Zealand with Tourism New Zealand's latest youth campaign - Epic Experiences - showing them 'there really is too much to miss'.

Launched today on the back of the successful Stories Beat Stuff activity, Epic Experiences demonstrates how cool a trip to New Zealand can be, with an enormous range of epic adventures to be had.

Youth travellers are those aged 18-29. Accounting for almost a quarter of annual arrivals the youth sector represent significant opportunity; with the potential to stay here longer, travel widely and get involved in a range of activities, meaning they have the potential to spend more while they are here.

"While Stories Beat Stuff was designed to improve the youth sector's pre-travel perception of New Zealand as a holiday destination, Epic Experiences aims to capitalise on this and convert this into bookings - so they come to New Zealand and experience it for themselves," says Justin Watson, General Manager Marketing Communications.

The campaign is the largest multi-partner youth sector activity to be simultaneously rolled-out across all Tourism New Zealand western long-haul markets.

"We have worked with a significant number of trade and youth partners in each market, securing strong travel deals to promote during the campaign which will support strong conversion rates.

"We have also worked with the youth industry and operators with youth specific products in New Zealand to ensure the wide range of activities available are promoted across the campaign to show just how much there is to do while here."

Running over two months the activity will be rolled out via Tourism New Zealand's established social media and online platforms across the US and Canada, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands and Scandinavia.

"These are core markets for youth travellers to New Zealand, and combined they contribute over a third of all youth arrivals each year.

Using online channels the activity will drive visitors to tailor made youth pages on the market versions of newzealand.com. Here visitors will also be able to access information to help them plan their trip, with tailored itineraries, visa information and maps.

Utilising the wealth of user generated material collected during Stories Beat Stuff, the campaign pages promote the uniquely personal view of the New Zealand experience that resonated strongly with the market.

"During the course of Stories Beat Stuff we learnt that the personal stories of other youth travellers, shared through youth friendly media such as Facebook, videos and online channels, were instrumental in getting their attention.

"Achieving one million views and 61,000 direct 'likes' on Tourism New Zealand's '100% Pure' Facebook page we know that this is a successful way to engage with the youth sector - to get them to see New Zealand as a must-visit destination and inspire them to book their trip to experience it for themselves."